ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book gives teachers additional tools with which to uncover these gifts. It begins by reviewing current research that offers insight into the distinctions between the thinking of gifted and more typical students. The book presents units that gifted learners will find challenging and that will foster their complex thinking— beginning in the early grades. It requires that students explore this domain-specific knowledge in depth and helps teachers provide the stimulating curricula that will nurture this potential. The book presents the projects based on research into how these students actually think differently from their peers and how they use their learning styles and potentials not merely to develop intellectual expertise, but to move beyond expertise to the production of new ideas.
